How the woman behind Harry Potter went from being a beloved author to a magnet for controversies
By Poch Eulalia
J.K. Rowling’s story of the “boy who lived” made waves worldwide in 1997, when Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone—or Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone as everyone outside the UK came to know it—first hit the bookshelves.
As the franchise grew in popularity, it ended up becoming one of the bestselling book series of all time. Its US publisher Scholastic claims it has sold over 600 million copies worldwide to date.
It was later adapted into film, with then unknown actors Daniel Radcliffe, Rupert Grint, and Emma Watson starring as the franchise’s protagonists, Harry Potter, Ron Weasley, and Hermione Granger. The Wizarding World film franchise has seen success, with over 11 films under its belt and another one coming soon.
Even in video games, Harry Potter found quite the following, with games released as movie tie-ins by video game company EA. Fans continue to share fond memories of the early EA games online, such as PlayStation 1’s rendition of the Hagrid character, which became quite a popular meme. Its latest video game release, Hogwarts Legacy, has also swept the video game audiences by being the fourth top-selling game on the video game digital distribution service Steam, topped up with many positive reviews.
With this much success across several media platforms, it’s clear that the Wizarding World of Harry Potter is an undeniable powerhouse, yet it has recently found itself in a web of controversies, with most fingers pointing toward J.K. Rowling herself.
With this much success across several media platforms, it’s clear that the Wizarding World of Harry Potter is an undeniable powerhouse, yet it has recently found itself in a web of controversies, with most fingers pointing toward J.K. Rowling herself.
In 2020, J.K. Rowling faced backlash over tweets deemed misogynistic toward trans women. “If sex isn’t real, there’s no same-sex attraction,” reads her tweet. “If sex isn’t real, the lived reality of women globally is erased.”
It was followed by an essay published on her website, where Rowling bared her thoughts on trans activism, her disapproval of allowing trans people to use bathrooms according to their gender alignment, and her take on other related issues, which many deemed to be anti-trans. The essay received a considerable amount of backlash from her own fans. Some stars from the movie franchise even spoke up against her views.
The tweets have led Rowling to be classified by online circles as a “TERF,” or a trans-exclusionary radical feminist. The term is used to describe those who claim to be feminists yet exclude trans women from their views. The tweets have led some gamers to call on a boycott of the Hogwarts Legacy game. Many claim that supporting the game means supporting Rowling’s views. Coincidentally, the game features the franchise’s first trans character, Sirona Ryan. Although not explicitly stated, the character hints at her transition by saying in one of her in-game dialogues that she “was actually a witch, not a wizard.”
Rowling has also faced scrutiny over parts of her books that some now find questionable after looking closely into the details. She has been accused of anti-semitism. Citing the hooked noses and an affinity for handling gold as giveways, many claim that the goblin race running the Gringott’s Bank in her books are no different from the negative caricatures the Nazi used in their propaganda against the Jewish people. It didn’t help that the Star of David pattern was seen present on the bank’s floor in one of the films, which was in fact just a feature of the filming location. Others also questioned Dobby’s race of house elves, who were written in a way that they seem to prefer to be subservient to humans rather than to have their own free will.
Through all the backlash, Rowling finds an outlet in a new podcast by The Free Press entitled The Witch Trials of J.K. Rowling. She is joined by the show’s host, Megan Phelps-Roper, with whom Rowling has debates regarding gender and sex.
After all is said and done, it is clear that the Hogwarts legacy is now a befuddled mess. Future generations will have the Wizarding World of Harry Potter to enjoy, but they’ll have to deal with controversies surrounding its author as well.